'Pak feared exposure of militant camps'

Accusing Pakistan of adopting an "indifferent attitude towards the people of quake-ravaged Pakistan-occupied Kashmir", Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front has said Islamabad "turned down international help in the rubble-strewn areas because of fear of "exposure" of militant camps there.

"One wonders why the Indian offer of help was refused, which could have saved hundeds of lives and could also have boosted the confidence between both governments. The answer to this is simple if we take militant camps into account," senior JKLF leader Shabir Chaudhury said in a statement from London.

Despite all the claims of dismantling militant training camps, he said, the open secet was that they were fully operational with more than 3,000 militants fom various nationalities.

"These camps were located in various parts of PoK and in Balkote and Manshera," he added.

"Unlike what happens in this part of the world, the natural disaster when it struck didn't distinguish between a man with a gun and a civilian. They, like other civilians, were either killed, injured or were under the rubble," he said and added, "at last, to the relief of some, the camps wee dismantled by forces of nature".

"What explanation could the Pakistan government give if some militants from Bangladesh, Sudan, Algeria and Egypt are seen? This could have been very embarrassing for the military government of General Pervez Musharraf who on more than one occasion claimed there were no camps," the JKLF leader said while reasoning Pakistan's turning down of India's offer for joint relief and rescue efforts in PoK.